Helmi Vent

Biographical Information

born in Hamburg – Germany

Education

Graduate Study in music education at the University of Music in Cologne – Germany
Graduate Study in music performance (violin) with emphasis on Chamber music (violin-piano duo, masterclass Günther Kehr) at the University of Music in Cologne
Graduate Study in sports science with emphasis on dance at the University of Bonn

Supplementary Studies

Pedagogy and philosophy (University of Cologne); musicology (University of Bonn); dance (Folkwang-Hochschule Essen)
Further training in Embodied Voice Work (Lisa Sokolov, New York) (1998 – 2008)

Artistic Activities

National competitions in artistic gymnastics (1961 – 1964)
International competitions in rhythmic gymnastics (1964 – 1971); German championship title (group formation, 1970); nominated for participitation in the 1970 World Championship
International concert activities as a violinist (1965 – 1973), mainly in the USA (violin-piano duo with Gundo Vent) and Africa (various string ensembles)
Establishment and artistic direction of the "Forum für experimentellen Tanz, Duisburg" (Germany, 1970 – 1983) (Forum for Experimental Dance, Duisburg)
Awards for choreographies in Essen and Berlin (Germany), Nyon (Switzerland), Salzburg (Austria), Paris (France) and Kyoto (Japan)
Establishment and artistic direction of the Experimental DanceMusicTheater at the Mozarteum University Salzburg (1984-2008)
DanceMusicTheater-Projects with guest appearances at Austrian, European and international universities, academies and theaters
Conceptional and Artistic Direction of the LIA – Lab Inter Arts at the Mozarteum University (2008 – 2013)
Since October 2013 direction of the LIA – Lab Inter Arts in free artistic and cultural context. Focuses: Performance Arts (SpaceSoundBody-Theater), Transcultural Projects, Art and Culture

Teaching and Research Activities

Teacher at upper secondary schools (Essen and Duisburg), at the Pädagogischer Hochschule (teacher training college in Neuss) and at the University of Düsseldorf – Germany
Since 1983 full professor at the Mozarteum University Salzburg – Austria
Main focuses: performance (SpaceSoundBodyTheater); experimental DanceMusic-Theater; Art and Culture; Intercultural Projects
Ongoing artistic research project "LIA – Lab Inter Arts": development of process-oriented methods of improvisation, composition and performance staging per video and text
Publications in the fields of performance, experimental music theater, dance theater, and pedagogy of music and dance, experiment as dimension of research
Videofilm-, DVD- and CD-Production on own interdisciplinary art performance projects
Guest professor (lectures, seminars, artistic projects) at various academies and universities in Europe, the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, India, southern, western and central Africa, and Mongolia
Study trips to indigenous cultures, some of them nomadic, in northern, western and southwestern Africa, Australia, New Zealand, central Asia, the USA  and Hawaii
Award: 2013 Helmi Vent received the Ars docendi - State Prize for Excellence in Teaching at the public Austrian universities in the category "Innovative Teaching Concepts"

By the way...

Married to Gundo Vent – three children. Lives 600 meters above sea level in the neighborhood of foxes and deer, with Raika the cat, a family of hedgehogs under the patio, and a family of martens on the roof. Loves traveling in desert regions with her husband. Every morning from spring until fall brews herb tea – fresh from the mountain pastures.